IFAs

Climate change to cost $150bn a year – UN.

Wednesday 09 October 2002Insurance claims relating to structural damage caused by increasingly violent weather could reach around $150bn (£96bn) according to a report this week by the United Nations Environment Programme. The report also claims that current climate change action plans, chiefly the Kyoto Protocol, do not go far enough in addressing the problem. Financial institutions are urged to develop strategies to force change on the issue, by providing reduced policies for greener companies, or introducing an emissions based premium schemes. There are currently no widespread policies on climate change in the insurance industry, a situation that the report predicts may be forced into a revision. Kate Hampton, Friends of the Earth International’s climate campaigner, said in a press release: "This report is a call to action for the financial sector. Until now, many have buried their heads in the sand and failed to address the threat posed by climate change. Millions of people are at risk from its devastating impacts, and this will inevitably affect their core business. If the financial sector takes this report seriously, chief executives will stop investing in fossil fuels and start lobbying President Bush to reverse his disastrous position on Kyoto."